THE RELATION BETWEEN JOB SATISFACTION, JOB FRUSTRATION AND NARCISSISM AND ATTITUDES
TOWARDS PROFESSIONAL ETHICAL BEHAVIOR AMONG POLICE OFFICERS

Pavel Krejčí, Jaroslav Kvapil, Jirí Semrád

On the basis of the theory of psychological contract and the theory of frustration it was
hypothesized that: 1) there would be a significant negative (positive) correlation between the
job satisfaction (frustration) of the police officers and the measure of their unethical attitudes,
and 2) this correlation would be closer in the group of the police officers whose narcissism is
above average than in the group of those below average. Two instruments were given to a
sample of 121 Czech police officers. The questionnaire used in Hyams's (1990) study of role
perception and narcissism and the attitudes towards professional ethical behavior among police
officers was the first one. Two scales of the questionnaire have been analysed in the presented
study - the Scale of selfism (narcissism) and the Attitudes towards the professional ethic scale.
The modification of Porter's (1961) questionnaire used in the study of the needs of the middle
level managers was the second instrument.It contains 15 items designed to provide information
about different needs derived from Maslow's theory. Each of respondents has been asked to
rate: a) how important is the need for him, b) how satisfied is he with the fulfilment of this need
in his real life. The measure of the job frustration was the difference between these two ratings.
The total measures of their job satisfaction and job frustration were obtained by addition of the
ratings of each item. The correlation analysis was used for testing the hypotheses and further
studying the effects of the job satisfaction/frustration on the ethical attitudes. Both the
hypotheses were confirmed. The additional analysis was also carried out to research the
satisfaction/frustration of the partial needs and its relation to the attitudes towards the specific
ethical behavior. It shows that the specific job satisfaction/frustration can lead to specific ethical
attitudes but the relationships are more complex than in the case of those using total measures.
The effect of narcissism upon these partial relations is also more complex.

In recent years the great attention has been paid to ethical behavior both in the economic
sphere, state administrative and other spheres of social life. In free society it is apparently
impossible to rely on legal regulations of the behavior of its sectors only. Work of the police is
closely connected with the state administrative activity that's why the police cannot avoid such
an attention.

Heavy ethical demands are put on work of police officers. These demands are expressed
in various codes of ethics (Commission on P.O.S.T., 1988). These codes include a number of
norms which have to be abide by the police officers in their work in case their activity should be
appraised as professional accordingly to public expectations. However abiding these norms by
individuals in practice isn't far so unambiguous. This may be seen in scandal disclosures in
press blaming police officers for corruption, disproportional using force, indiscretion and
unlawful intervention in personal freedom of citiziens, etc.

There are two questions :"What is the cause of such departures?" and "What way would it
be possible to prevent them in the future?" That is just the task for a research. However the
ethical behavior is too difficult to research because direct observing the policemen during the
action is not mostly possible . So it is necessary making use of indirect methods which help to
solve this problem.

Abiding professional ethical norms by policemen depends on their attitudes to norms
above all - whether the policemen accept them or whether they cast doubt upon them or even
they reject them. The attitudes of policemen towards professional ethical norms (as the case
may be towards ethical behavior reflecting these norms) and their determinants is possible to
study much more easily. That is why the research in the sphere of professional ethics is aimed at
these attitudes above all. When considering the topic is quite new, the research is at its
beginning only.

PROBLEM

Previous studies regarding the attitudes of police officers towards their professional ethics
and its determinants have looked at correlations of personality traits, role perception or
demografic variables as age, rank, sex, educatin and time on the job (Roebuck and Barker,
1976, Brodsky and Williamson, 1984, Felkenes, 1984, Bryan, 1988, Hyams, 1990). The
Hyams's study trying to use systematic attitude towards the problem is especially valuable. In
addition it proved that the personal trait termed narcissism plays an important role among
determinants of unethical professional attitudes.

Hitherto, no systematic attention was paid to the question of the relation of the ethical
attitudes and the job satisfaction/frustration. As we supppose, this relation may have also great
significance for the comprehension of the problem of the unethical behavior in work situations.
At the same time we suppose that some personality traits - including narcissism - may be
playing the moderating role in this relation. (Narcissism as a moderator of the relationship
between job characteristics and job reactions was examined by Mullins and Kopelman, 1987.)

In our consideration of the influence of the job satisfaction/frustration on abiding
professional ethical norms we have used two known theoretical conceptions - the theory of
"psychological contract" and the theory of frustration.

According to the theory of psychological contract the organization concludes certain
agreement with the worker (unwritten mostly) on mutual obligations and expectations
(Schein,1965). Abiding some norms of behavior is included into expectations of the
organization. These norms regulate the activity of workers. On the other side the organization
obliges taking care of satisfying legitimate needs of workers.

It is necessary to expect if the worker perceives that the organization does not fulfil its
obligations towards him quite enough ( his needs are not saturated fully), he will not feel to be
obliged by these norms too much, which is demanded by the organization. Consequently lax
attitudes towards these norms can be supposed.

But we suppose the narcissistic persons aiming at their personal interests above all could
be on the one hand more demanding as to their needs and on the other hand they could be more
sensitive to their unsatisfaction than persons with the low level of narcissism. Because of their
absorption in themselves they could also show less consideration to that fact the abiding of
ethical professional norms is not only an obligation towards the organization but towards the
society as well. That's why these norms should be accepting although the obligations of the
organization towards the worker are not fulfiled enough from the worker's point of view.

We come to the similar conclusion when we use the theory of frustration. The worker is
motivated to reach some aims in his work. If he is blocked in this activity, he feels the
frustration to which he can respond in an adaptive way or in an unadaptive way ( Blume and
Naylor, 1968). The aggression is one of standard unadaptive responses. The aggression can be
aimed at other persons on one hand and on the other hand at the obstacle itself , the nature of
which can be objective. In many cases it is possible to understand ethical norms regulating the
behavior of the policemen on duty as serious obstacles to effective reaching the aims. That's
why they can become a target for attacks of people frustrated by work. These attacks will be
represented by rejecting and minimizing obligation of these norms.

As well it is possible to suppose that the narcissistic persons are generally tending to
response to the frustration by rejection or aggression more often because they are not
accustomed showing consideration towards other people and their interests.

Therefore on the basis of the previous considerations it was hypothesized that :

In a group of police officers a significant positive (negative) correlation would be found
between the job satisfaction (frustration) and the attitudes indicative of a lack of adherence
to professional ethics :

The correlation between the job satisfaction (frustration) and ethical attitudes would be
closer in a group of police officers who are above average in narcissism in comparison with
the group of those below average.

The purpose of this study is the verification of hypotheses mentioned above and doing
analysis of obtained data which could serve as a starting point for formulating objectives of
further research.

METHOD

Subjects

The police officers on duty were the subjects of this study. The sample was obtained from
the Municipal Police Department of Pilsen (in West Bohemia) selected by the researcher on the
basis of the availability and comparability with the sample used in Hyams's study (1990). Our
study has been a part of the broader explorative and comparative study of the Czech and
American police officers.

With the help of the administrators of the department 135 participants selected at random
were solicited to take part in the research. The usable sample consisted of 121 subjects varying
in age, assignment, time on job and education. In this respect the sample was heterogenous and
representing the police personnel at the agency.

Procedures

The researcher delivered the instruments used in the study to an administrator of the
department. The administrator was asked to select names from a list of sworn personnel of the
agency at random. The instruments with a cover letter asking for their participation were given
to the personnel. Each of respondents received the instruments in an open envelope without any
identification signs.

All completed instruments in closed envelopes were returned by the respondents to a
secured drop box in the administrator's office and retrieved by the researcher.

Instruments

Two questionnaires were given to the sample of police officers. The modification of the
questionnaire used in Hyams's (1990) study of role perception and narcissism and the attitudes
towards professional ethical behavior among police officers has been the first instrument.The
modification of Porter's (1961) questionnaire used in the study of ther needs of the middle level
managers has been the second instrument.

The first instrument consists of four scales and some questions regarding demografic
information.

The Selfism Scale (Phares and Erskine,1984) was designed to measure narcissism, called
"selfism" by developers. It's 28 questions is answered on a five point Likert scale. The total
measure of narcissism can be obtained by addition of the ratings for each question. Possible
total scores range from 28 to 140.

High scores on the scale reflect the viewing of situations in a selfish or egocentric fashion.
Low scores are described as submerging the subject's needs in favor of others. Eleven non-
scored "filler" items are included for a total of 39 items.

The Perception of Police Role Scale was developed by Hyams based on Meadows's
(1985) study which dichotomized the police role perception as either oriented towards arrest
and apprehension or service and order maintenance. All thirteen questions are answered on the
same five point scale with high scores reflecting an arrest and apprehension role.Several non-
scored filler items are included, too.(The answeres to the questions of this scale have not been
analysed for the purpose of this study.)

Attitudes Towards Ethical Behavior Scale, based upon the studies of Bryan (1988) and
Felkenes (1984) was designed by Hyams to measure attitudes towards professional ethics. It
contains 21 questions designed to differentiate attitudes towards corrupt behavior, using of
unnecessary force or violence,accepting bribes as well as other ethical violations (see Appendix
l). These questions are answered on the same Likert scale. To avoid response bias some items
are worded in a negative or reverse way. Several non-scored filler items have been included,
too.

The total measure of ethical attitudes can be obtained by addition of the partial scores for
each item. Possible scores range from 21 to 105. High scores on the scale reflect less ethical
attitudes.

Dedication Scale consit of 3 items .(The answers on the items has not been used.).
Questions regarding demografic data - sex,age, education, time on police job, assignment and
others have been also asked.

The Job Satisfaction/Frustation Questionnaire (JSF) - the modification of Porter's (1961)
questionnaire used in the study of needs of middle level managers was the second instrument. It
contained 15 items designed to provide information about five different motivational need
classes which were derived from Maslow's theory of the need hierarchy (see Appendix 2).

Each respondent is asked to indicate on the six point Likert scale the following for each of
items:

How important is this characteristic for him/her? (Subscale A)

How satisfied is he/she with the fulfilment of this characteristic in his/her real job?
(Subscale B)

The total measures of the importance of the needs and job satisfaction can be obtained by
addition of 15 partial scale values.

The partial and total measures of the need frustration at the job were also developed
(Subscale C). The need frustration is defined as a difference between : a) how important it is for
the subject, and b) how satisfied he/she is with its fulfilment (part A minus part B). (Břicháček,
Mikšík, 1979).

RESULTS

Description of the sample

From the number of 135 instruments 121 survey instruments were obtained by or returned
to the researcher. Fourteen were rejected due to incompletion or apparent negligence whilst 121
surveys were ready for the analysis.

Nineteen of 121 officers have been female (15,7%). Twenty nine officers (24%) have
been from 18 to 25 years of age, nineteen (15,7%) have been from 26 to 30 years of age, fourty
seven (38,8%) have been from 31 to 39 years old, twenty two (18,2%) have been from 40 to 49
years old and four (3,3%) have been 50 years old or above fifty.

As to the level of the education 102 (84,3%) police officers have been educated at 'A'
level and GCE examination, 11 (9,1%) have been higher educated and only 8 (6,4%) have been
educated at 'A' level without GCE.

Nine officers (7,4%) have been in service less than two years, while 19(15,7%) have been
in their service from 2 to 3 years and 22 (18,2%) have been in service from 4 to 7 years. Twenty
officers (16,5%) have been in service from 8 to 11 years, 15 officers (12,4%) have been in
service from 12 to 15 years and 18 officers (14,9%) have reported from 16 to 19 years of
service. The same number of 18 officers have served more than 20 years.

Seventy three officers (60,3%) have been assigned to patrol, 17 (14%) to traffic and 19
(15,7%) to investigating department. Twelve officers (9,9%) have been assigned to
administration or other services.

Reliability,validity and analysis of the scales

Three scales were used for each subject. These scales consisted of (1) the
Selfism(Narcissism) scale, (2) the scale measuring attitudes towards ethical behavior and (3) the
scale measuring the job satisfaction/frustration (consisting of three subscales A, B, C). All of
the scales have good face validity.

Coefficients of reliability (split-half) were also computed for these scales. They was : .702
for the narcissism scale, .720 for the scale of ethics and .759, .873 and .847 for the subscales A
- „importance", B - „satisfaction" and C - „frustration" of the Job Satisfaction / Frustration
Questionnaire . The first two coefficients of reliability were slightly lower than those in
Hyams's study (1990).

Descriptive statistics for all scales are listed in Table l. Mean scores and standard
deviations of narcissism and the ethics scale were also consistent with those reported in the
study by Hyams. (The mean score obtained for narcissism in Hyams's study (1990) was 76.43
with the standard deviation of 13.38. In the present study the mean score for narcissism was
78.10, with the standard deviation 12.95. The mean score for the ethic scale according to
Hyams was 58.17, with the standard deviation of 13.36. In our study the mean score has been
61.41, with the standard deviation of 14.20 )

Distribution of scores in all scales was also analysed for normality by means of
Kolmogorov-Smirnov's Goodness of Fit Test. All of distributions were approximately normal.
(The normal distribution of the scores is a precondition for the use of Pearson's correlations in
the analysis of the results.

Analysis of the hypotheses

Hypothesis 1 stated that greater unethical attitudes would be found among officers who
scored lower on a measure of the job satisfaction (or higher on a measure of the job frustration).

The job satisfaction was significantly (negatively) correlated with unethical professional
attitudes (r = -.4045, p
Hypothesis 2 stated that closer correlation between the job satisfaction/frustration and
unethical attitudes would be found among officers who scored higher on a measure of
narcissistic style than among those ones who scored lower. We can see in Table 2 that the
correlation between the job satisfaction or frustration and unethical attitudes in the group of the
high narcissistic subjects (r= -.4334, p< .001 or r =. 3284, pAdditional analysis

After the more detailed correlational analysis was done because of detailed studying the
way of which the satisfaction/frustration of partial needs of subjects is reflected in their partial
ethical attitudes worded by each single questions of the ethical scale. The results are
summarized in Table 3 and 4. According to the tables it is quite clear that significant
correlations have been found between some partial factors of the work satisfaction/ frustration
and partial ethical attitudes but not at all between all of them.If we concentrate only on cases in
which significant correlations have been found then we can state that the satisfaction/frustration
of each single need is reflected in ethical attitudes in very different ways. The analysis of
relationships between factors of job satisfaction, job frustration and ethical attitudes separetly in
the group of higher-narcissistic and low-narcissistic subjects has also done. The relevant table is
not mentioned in our paper because of its extensiveness. However the authors of the study could
place it at your disposal. When we observe these correlations, we will receive much more
complicated picture being beyond any simple interpretative scheme. While the correlations of
some pairs of items are higher in the group of narcissistic persons, the situation of other pairs of
items is just reverse.

DISCUSSION

At least two findings deserve to pay an attention on the basis of the stated results.
Firstly it is the finding that the ethical attitudes correlate higher with the job satisfaction than
with the job frustration. The little gratification of some needs regardless their subjective
importance rather than their frustration seems to be more important for negative shifts in ethical
attitudes. It could give evidence for the interpretation based on the theory of the psychological
contract rather than this one based on the theory of frustration.

Interpreting we have to be very careful. At first it is necessary to consider that at present
we have only few empirical data concerning our contemplations of psychological contract and
frustration which were the basis for our hypoheses. For example we do not know whether the
subjects really understand their little satisfaction of the stated needs as a violation of the
unwritten agreement by the organization or whether the frustrated subjects can feel the
professional ethical norms as a source of their frustration. These questions themselves are a
good topic of a further research.

The different values of the correlations between ethical attitudes and the job satisfaction
vs. frustration can be also influenced by different statistic parametres of their total measures.
We should also remember that findings of correlations do not mean confirmation of causal
relatinships between the variables. So in the case of hypothesis 1 it will be possible to consider
reverse causal relationship than the stated. In acccordance with this assumption the violating of
professional ethical norms could lead to worse work results and consequently to lower job
needs satisfaction.

The second significant finding is that in case we change the relationships of total
variables for relationships of partial variables we can see they are more complicated. Therefore
our relatively simple models are not sufficient for their interprattion. More complicated models
must be considered.

A possible explanation for the differences in the ethical attitudes of the low and high-
satisfied subjects can be, for example, derivated from the exchange theory of commitment. In
accordance with this theory people do not take in commitments before they consider thoroughly
all „investments" and „effects". Some recent studies have examined the relationship between
job satisfaction and commitment (Koslowsky, Caspy and Lazar, 1991). While the two variables
were associated with each other, no causal relationship has been proved. Clarification of the
specific commiments resulting from professional ethical norms on the basis of the exchange
theory may be the aim of further empirical study.

In conclusion we could state that we are led not to underetimate the significance of
sufficient satisfaction of fundamental needs for the forming of right ethical attitudes at police
work. It is also necessery to pay more attention to such personal traits as narcissism in the
course of selecting new police officers.

APPENDIX 1
THE ETHIC SCALE
E 64 It is not wrong for an officer to accept small gifts from the public.
E 65 An officer must sometimes use prohibited means to accomplish enforcement of the law or
make an arrest.
E 66 I would take definite action if I knew of misconduct on the part of an officer, even if it
was a friend.
E 67 Business owners give discounts or free items because they like the police.
E 69 An officer cannot be consistently productive unless he or she bends or breaks the rules
from time to time.
E 70 I would probably use prohibited means to achieve arrest of a criminal if I thought it was
the only way that I could do so.
E 71 Unless it is an extremely serious matter, officers should protect each other when
misconduct is alleged.
E 72 It is sometimes necessary to be verbally disrespectful or abusive to a person because that
is the only way they will understand or comply.
E 73 "Professional courtesy", excusing a fellow officer for minor violations of law, is O.K.
E 74 I know numerous officers who have broken or bent the law to enforce the law.
E 75 Most supervisors agree that rules must be broken or bent to get the job done, but they
won't admit it.
E 76 Exaggerating probable cause to get a crook off the street is sometimes O.K.
E 77 Sometimes it is necessary for an officer to lie a little in court or on the report in order to
get a conviction.
E 78 Police work is like a game. As long as it appears that the rules are followed, anything
done to win is O.K.
E 79/1/ I would not lie to save my job.
E 80 My personal life is my business, and my agency mostly couldn't care what I do as long as
I do my job.
E 81 Taking care of personal business while working is usually O.K.
E 82 It is generally not wrong for an officer to accept free or discount meals or items from
businessmen.
E 84 Some people should receive "street justice" after hurting a police officer because that is
the only real punishment that they will get.
E 85/1/ I would never strike no matter how unfair I perceived working conditions or wages.
E 86 I would lie to save another officer's job, especially if he or she was a friend.

APPENDIX 2
THE JOB SATISFACTION/FRUSTRATION QUESTIONNAIRE
JSF 1. The feeling of security in my job.
JSF 2. The opportunity in my job to help other people.
JSF 3. The opportunity in my position to develop close friendship.
JSF 4. The feeling of self-esteem resulting from doing my job.
JSF 5. The regard received from others in the organization.
JSF 6. The regard received for my work from the public.
JSF 7. The authority resulting from my work.
JSF 8. The opportunity for independent thought and action in my job.
JSF 9. The opportunity for the participation in the setting of goals and procedures in my job.
JSF 10. The opportunity for participation in the determination of work methods in my job.
JSF 11. The opportunity for personal growth and development in my job.
JSF 12. The feeling of self-fulfilment resulting from my job. (The fulfilment of personal
desires and aspirations.)
JSF 13. The feeling of work accomplishment in my job.
JSF 14. The good pay for my work.
JSF 15. The feeling of being an expert at my work.
Answers have been given on the basis of the two following questions :
A. How important is this for you ?
0 = Quite unimportant
1 = Not very important
2 = Important below average
3 = Important on the average
4 = Very important
5 = Especially important
B. How satisfied are you with this ?
0 = Quite unsatisfied
1 = Very little satisfied
2 = Satisfied below average
3 = Satisfied on the average
4 = Satisfied very much
5 = Quite satisfied